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Approximate 37% reduction of fatalities from side collisions

Approximately 19% of passenger car fatalities*1 occur as a result of side collisions, ranking them second after frontal collisions. Of these, approximately 77% result in passenger injuries to the head, chest, neck or face (Figure 1). This fact has led to the development of SRS curatin shield airbags and SRS side airbags, which help restrain the head, chest etc. during side collisions. An approximate 37% reduction of fatalities has been reported as a result(Figure 2).

*1:Death within 24-hours of accident

Figure 1 Collision Patterns of Fatal Accidents involving Driver/Passenger
NEXT Main Injury Areas in Fatal Side Collisions involving Driver/Passenger
Figure 2 Fatality Reduction in Side Collisions

Airbag deployment is completed within only 0.03 of a second of a collision.

Since a door can intrude into the cabin space quickly in a side collision, airbags must be deployed extremely quickly. When a sensor stored in the center pillar detects an impact exceeding a certain magnitude at the time of a collision, the side airbags stored in the seatbacks deploy in 0.02 of a second and the curtain shield airbags stored in the roof above the side glass deploy in 0.03 of a second, softening the impact that the head and chest receive when colliding with a door or other objects from outside the vehicle. Roll-sensing curtain airbags deploy during a rollover, and by remaining inflated for 3 to 6 seconds, help soften the impact on the vehicle occupants.

First in the world to adopt SRS curtain shield airbags.

In side collisions, protecting the head against serious injuries has been an important issue. By storing an airbag in the limited space of the roof rail and repeating various tests to quickly deploy the bag in the narrow space between the head and the side glass, Toyota successfully developed an airbag that deploys in a curtain form. Toyota first adopted curtain shield airbags in the 1998 "PROGRES", becoming the first automaker in the world to use them.